thumb print Love Bug Valentines

Claire and I made these adorable little Valentine cards last night. It really is such a simple project to make. Our first step was to use the cricut to cut out our tags. Now, if you don't have a cricut you could make simple rectangle tags- which really, would be a lot faster anyway! We cut two tags for each card, and made the red ones slightly larger than the white ones. Then Claire did her thing and stamped her thumbprint on each of the white cards. Then I quickly swept the cards away from her and put them on the counter to dry before she had the whole card painted red. (If you're doing this craft with a toddler, may I suggest that you cut a few extra cards. NOT that I would know this from personal experience or anything!)

I just added a little face, some googly eyes (because what kids craft isn't made better with some googly eyes?) and tied them with bakers twine and they were done. The red tags are perfect for writing your Valentine's day messages.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 
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Kids Valentine craft

This was the perfect craft to make. We were able to do it while Simon had a quick morning  nap and it involved everything that Claire loves to do. She got to colour, use scissors, googly eyes, glue, and sticky tape. (On a side note, yes I do realize that as a general rule tape is sticky. Claire calls it sticky tape thanks to Dora.)

Another great thing about this craft is that you could really cater it to such a variety of ages. Claire's nearly 3, so I had to help her cut out the hearts, and put most of the tape on BUT older kids would be able to make these with much less guidance.

What you need to make these:
toilet paper rolls
construction paper
white computer paper
markers/crayons
googly eyes (older kids could draw on the eyes)
decorative tape or strips of coloured paper (could use leftover wrapping paper)
sicssors

1. cover toilet paper roll with sheet of white paper. (This might be a step that you could skip. It was hard for us to pick off all of the extra bits of toilet paper, so we just covered them up!)
2. cut hearts out of construction paper (can you tell that Claire cut out the purple 'heart' below?)
3. colour the hearts or draw on a face
4. add googly eyes, if you're using them
5. add decorative tape, of strips of paper to the toilet paper roll
6. tape the heart to the front of the toilet paper roll

Inspired by the finger puppet Valentines that Katie Did made last year.

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Love t-shirt

I sat down to make another freezer stenciled t-shirt using this technique here. I had actually picked up this shirt to make a Christmas one for my daughter, but December went by a little too quickly for me to get everything done! I was going to use the same design layout that I had in mind for the Christmas shirt- but I guess that must have escaped my mind when I actually sat down to make it. I also forgot to check to see if I had the right colour paint. (Too much on the go I guess!) And, because I wanted the shirt done right away, I just used purple, it's kind of Valentines-y anyway.

As usual, I've got a million things on the go here. I'm busy planning Claire's little birthday party (all about rainbows), and finishing off some of the Valentine's Day crafts that we've been working on. Posting has been a little sporadic because Simon's teething, (2 teeth are in, and the third is almost through) and he's been skipping his naps- thus leaving little time to craft- let alone blog about it!

Valentine's day printables

I had so many Valentine printables running through my head this year, but somehow they didn't all turn out quite how I had envisioned. I'm definitely better more comfortable with paper designs rather than computer ones! Something to work on in my spare time, which at my current pace, could be a few years from now! BUT that's ok, because right here, right now, it's all about loving my kids and family, and that's just fine with me. Just a few hours apart from my duaghter today, and I couldn't stop hugging her when I got home.

That's what this printable is all about. Find love (kids, husband/wife, family) and hold them tight. Hug them lots- you'll never be sorry that you gave out too many hugs.

(To save file click on the picture to enlarge it. Then click on it again and right click and save the file.) Let me know if you use this file- I'd love to see what it looks like in your space.

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delicious Valentine's Day cupcakes

 I have finally found the most delicious chocolate cake recipe AND it's so easy to make. When I was visiting with my Mom last week Claire and I used this recipe and made some very delicious Valentine's Day cupcakes. (Sure we probably ate them all a full month before Valentine's Day, but now that we have such a great recipe we can make more for February 14!) We also made the icing that is supposed to go with this cake, but I found it way too chocolaty for my taste (and I love chocolate), so I made a similar one with much less cocoa powder.

Claire's birthday is just around the corner, and I really need to find a delicious recipe for a white/yellow cake. Does anyone have a favorite one that they'd like to share? I've tried so many, but haven't found a keeper yet.

Here's the recipe that we used, I've linked it to the Hershey's site in case you're interested in using the frosting that they suggest.

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE' Chocolate Cake

Bake Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (500 mL) granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) HERSHEY'S® Cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking soda
• 1 tsp (5 mL) salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (250 mL) milk
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) vegetable oil
• 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
• 1 cup (250 mL) boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour two, 9-inch (1.5 L) round baking pans.

2. Combine sugar with flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer, set to medium speed, for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans to a rack; cool completely. 

love sign

 I love Valentines Day, and I've been having a great time thinking of Valentines day crafts. What's great about this craft is that it's so simple & cheap to make. This is an excellent nap time craft and it can be made using the supplies that you have on hand too (except for maybe the wooden plaque).

What you need:
wooden plaque (check your dollar store)
piece of patterned paper
piece of solid colour cardstock
white paint (it could be painted to match the patterned paper)
mod podge

paintbrush
ribbon
Cricut cutter (or utility knife)

 

I placed a piece of white computer paper on top of my plaque and used a crayon to etch out the shape of the oval. I cut out the oval and then traced it on to the patterned paper, and then cut that oval out.

 I painted the edges of the plaque white. I used my cricut cutter to cut out the word love. You could of course cut out the letters with a utility knife if you don't have a cricut (or something similar). Then I painted a coat of Mod Podge on the plaque and carefully placed on my paper, squeezing out all of the air bubbles. I then coated the paper with a coat of Mod Podge and placed on the word love. I sealed it all with one last coat to finish it off. Once it was dry, I added a ribbon so that I could hang it up.

Linking up with It's Fun to Craft, Fingerprints on the Fridge,   I heart naptime & Support Blog for Moms of BOYS & C.R.A.F.T. & Making the World Cuter & 

tea party table

I bought a couple of lack side tables from IKEA many years ago now. They have been well used over the years, and it had come to the point where I had debated getting rid of the tables all together, BUT, I have problems getting rid of stuff (I'm going to work on de-cluttering this year!) Ever since I discovered the fabulousness of Mod Podge this year, I'm always try to find projects where I can use it. I decided that Claire needed a table so that she could host a tea party. I went through my papers, and picked out my favorite ones to use on this table. I measured the table and then cut all of my papers into squares to make a patchwork table.

Once I had all of the paper squares cut I played around with the papers, trying to find a design that worked for me. I wanted to make the table less pattern-y and more random- but turns out I can't do random. 

Now I thought (notice the past tense) that it would be easier to tape all of the squares together and then Mod Podge them onto my table. IT WASN'T. This was my first time using Mod Podge on such a large scale, and I basically know everything that I shouldn't do next time! I was so focused on having all of the squares line up perfectly (even though in the end they still didn't) that I thought it would have been easier to tape them together, that way I wouldn't be rushing to get them on before the Mod Podge dried. Oh boy, I was in a kerfuffle last night. I had coated my table in Mod Podge and I placed the squares that were all taped together on the table, but they weren't straight, I couldn't seem to get them just right. So, panicked, I took the whole giant sheet of squares off and then had my husband help me put it on again. I let it dry overnight, and put books on the table so that no air bubbles developed. The next morning I added a top coat of Mod Podge to the table. I think that it needs a few more before Claire & Simon really start to use it though.

 Claire didn't want teddy to attend the tea party, hence the empty chair. Here she was pouring a cup of tea for Simon.

 I hope that she has many happy tea parties using this table.

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